First Edition Sculpture of Japan: From the 5th to 15th Century by William Watson (1959 HC VG) - Rare Antique Art Book for Collectors & Japanese Art Enthusiasts

Watson, William. New York: The Studio Publications, 1959.

English, First Edition, Very Good, 4to, 14 3/4" x 9 1/4", [3] 216 pp.

Black cloth over board, gilt lettering to spine, yellow top-edge, minor toning throughout text block, small dots of white paint to back panel and bottom back edge, light wear to tips, edges, head, and tail, otherwise, clean, tightly bound, and unmarked throughout. Good black pictorial dust jacket, featuring 747 sculpture "The Bodhisattva Gekkō" to front, yellow lettering to front and spine, black lettering to back and interior flaps, 1/2" chip to bottom back tip, some chipping and wear along edges and tips, minor soiling to back panel and interior flaps, otherwise, clean and intact. Protected in a paper-backed Mylar sleeve. [3] 216 pp. Includes a List of Plates, a Preface, The Plates, Notes on Iconography, Bibliography, and 152 black-and-white illustrations, many full-page, across 6 sections titled, "Sculpture of Japan," "The Asuka Period A.D. 538-671," "The Early Nara Period A.D. 671-710," "The Later Nara Period A.D. 710-784," "The Heian Period A.D. 784-1185," "The Kamakura Period A.D. 1185-1392." From inside dust jacket: "[William Watson] has brought together in this book a magnificent collection of reproductions--representing figures often in-accessible to the layman--providing a survey certainly unique in the English language...Mr. Watson's text deals succinctly with the function of Buddhist statuary and the outlook of the sculptor, and with the religious and symbolical characters of the gods, their attitudes and attributes."